• South Africa gets the top spot in WTC rankigs.
• Australia lost the second Test against Sri Lanka.
• New Zealand won the inaugural WTC.

Australia surrendered their top spot in the World Test Championship to South Africa on Tuesday after losing the second match of their series versus Sri Lanka.

Monday in Galle, Sri Lanka, the island nation produced spectacular innings and a 39-run victory over Australia captained by Pat Cummins to tie the two-match series 1-1.

The result shook up the championship standings, with Sri Lanka rising to third as the competition to reach the final intensifies.

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“South Africa take over as the new leader on the latest standings with a win-loss percentage of 71.43 percent, while Australia drop to second with 70 percent after their first Test loss in the current period,” the International Cricket Council said.

“Sri Lanka are now firmly in the mix for the World Test Championship final next year, with their win helping them jump in front of Pakistan, India and West Indies.”

Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya had a fantastic debut with 12 wickets, and experienced batsman Dinesh Chandimal excelled with an unbroken 206 — his first Test double-century.

The loss was described by Cummins as a “reality check” for a team that had won the first match in three days but was eliminated on the fourth day of the second round.

“The reality is some of our players haven’t been here before. So you could call it a reality check, because it’s a first experience,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald said, agreeing with the skipper.

“It’s a sample size of one. We have the opportunity to learn from that. And we’ll take that. But we learned a hell of a lot in the first game too.

“You can learn through winning and you can learn through defeat too.”

In November, Australia will play West Indies at home, while Sri Lanka will begin a two-match series against Pakistan on Saturday.

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson won the inaugural Test championship final, defeating India in Southampton last year.

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